What would Steinway do

[Allen Wright]

Ed,

You're talking about the newer NY pedal box here? Funny, I was  
thinking that the Hamburg setup looked easier to service, and perhaps  
more stable as well. Repairing the NY setup, I sure have had to  
replace a lot of those nylon bushings on the pedal pin to eliminate  
pedal play, which involves removing several (tricky to reinstall)  
screws, and of necessity removing all three pedals as a unit even if  
only one of them has a problem. I've always found that a bit overly  
engineered, myself. Am I the only one?

On the other hand, though, it is true that you have to take the  
Hamburg lyre off to work on the pedals, so maybe that's plenty good  
enough reason to prefer the NY style.

I'm hearing talk (I have NO idea whether it's true or not) that  
Steinway might consider merging the NY and Hamburg pianos in certain  
ways, eliminating some of the differences between the two. It makes  
for a pretty interesting thought experiment, to consider how a   
committee might be formed to make decisions on which parts would be  
chosen to be kept and which eliminated. If the idea was to try and  
decide things purely on merit and objectivity, it would be a tough  
assignment, wouldn't it? Given the inevitable difference of opinions,  
traditions, and (ultimately) cultures involved.

It's interesting, though, to imagine the kind of piano that might  
emerge from such a blending. In an ideal world it might be possible  
to take the best from each instrument and make it into an even better  
one. Some Solomonic judgements would be required, though ...how would  
you decide where to put the sostenuto mechanism, for instance?

Sounds like another urban myth to me  : )

Speculatively,

Allen Wright, RPT


On 4 Mar 2007, at 17:07, A440A at aol.com wrote:

> Inre Hamburg/New York pianos, Allen writes:
>
> << Another larger difference is in the lyre and pedals,
> which are completely different, without the locking plate and
> continuous pin. The list goes on and on.. >>
>
>      Just for the record, I love the Steinway pedal box set-up.  I  
> have never
> seen another system that could be set up to be both as sensitive  
> and trouble
> free as possible, as well as easy to access and work on.  I haven't  
> seen any
> other system that could survive the stage treatment encountered  
> here at the
> school.  I carry a spare damper pedal in the tool kit because when  
> the ones on
> the stage get bent 1/4" or more lower than the others, I start to  
> pay attention
> to changing it.  Shift pedals are durable, (there can be some  
> crushing of the
> keyframe contact point if it isn't reinforced.  I have pieces of ebony
> endgrain , inlet into the stage piano keyframes after the original  
> wood was crushed
> into pulp.)
>             I understand this venue is an extreme example, the  
> point is, that
> the pedal can simply be replaced in a system that is solid enough  
> to justify
> it as just another non-durable part.  It is heavier than it needs  
> to be, and
> that is the way I like it.
> Ed Foote RPT
> http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
> www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
>  <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now  
> offers free
> email to everyone.  Find out more about what's free from AOL at
> http://www.aol.com.





-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20070304/650242d8/attachment.html